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Keys of Heaven (or My Heart, If You Care Enough) by CaelumWasHere
Fandoms: Conclave (2024)
25 Oct 2025
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Summary
The Pope is dead.
Not just a man but a voice, a pillar, a compass. And in the silence that follows, the Church does not mourn. It waits.
Cardinal Tedesco is not a man seeking comfort. He is a man on the cusp of war, carrying scripture like flint, ready to strike against the rot he sees in the soul of Rome. But even he is not untouched. Not entirely.
Not by her.
Their bond is not gentle, it is forged in silence, in glances too long held, in words that linger like incense: half-prayer, half-proposition.
She does not trust his fire, but she cannot look away from it either.
In him, she sees ruin. In her, he sees something still unburned.
As the conclave approaches and the Church prepares to crown its next soul to the pyre, they are drawn together, two faithful hearts wrapped in doubt, desire, and the terrible holiness of conviction.
This is not a love story in spite of God.
It is a love story beneath Him, within Him, against the burning veil of heaven.
Because some saints are not martyred.
Some are chosen by fire and walk into it willingly.